


Cafe Phantom

by Kerica



Series: Kerica Shepard [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - No Reapers, Coffee Shops, F/M, Nihlus Kryik Lives, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-04 15:38:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14023383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerica/pseuds/Kerica
Summary: Nihlus has always felt a sort of kindred-spirit with Kerica Shepard. Even before he met her in person on the Normandy, investigating Eden Prime, her records had him unreasonably curious and interested. Through it all, Nihlus quickly discovered even his previous mentor couldn't be trusted. Yet here was this tiny human...this tiny human was the only one by his hospital bed.Forced to retire, Kerica Shepard was left tasked with the mission to find and stop the rogue agent Nihlus once called 'friend'. Months have gone by since then. She feels lost, and when a certain C-sec officer pops into Phantom, Nihlus takes a chance. He's pleased that for the first time in a long time, she's got a little hope. What he doesn't expect is she brings him little pieces of her life along with her when she comes back each time.---Detached from the series. Some events and occurrences to happen, either by retelling or being hinted at. First inspired by another work, then inspired by comments on my tumblr dash about how Garrus "probably would've never met Shepard if it wasn't for Reapers." Well. Here's an AU entirely for that "without Reapers" scenario.---Rated T for swearing.





	1. Obsolete

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cafe Phantasm](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13771380) by [KestrelShrike](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KestrelShrike/pseuds/KestrelShrike). 



> Ssshhh this'll eventually move up to Mature and then Explicit. It's a slow burn.

Time...it was an odd thing. Kerica read about the technological jump in the timespan of the 1900s to the 2000s, and how things stagnated for a time. The invention of cars looked so _weird_ and then boom, only a century later came the sleek models that eventually morphed into what they had another century later, plus the _flying_ feature.

Funny, how technologies between a five-ten year span could quickly become obsolete in it’s own right. Did anyone think that such things could become as ‘ancient’ as say...a record player?

A 200-year jump in tech nearly resulted in a _untold_ amount of things becoming _ancient_ real fast. Books and cars with wheels was barely scratching the surface.

Yet...even with all of that here she was; in one of the few things that had stayed the same.

A cafe. On the Presidium of the Citadel. _Phantom_.

‘Starbucks’ was long dead, but coffee was a morning staple just like eggs, so cafes and coffee houses continued to reign. Unlike libraries, they had adapted quite well to the change of things. There may be food synthesizers, but nothing could beat coffee beans grown from all around Earth.

Also tea! Can’t forget about tea. Her own still filled her nose; the creamed Earl Grey making her hum in delight.

To Kerica’s delight, once some barriers were crossed, it was discovered that coffee beans grew on other planets, too, or at least something similar, in the case of Turian coffee. It was similar for cocoa beans that made chocolate.

There had been a hot rumor about dextro-amino allergies and crap, but science itself debunked all of that. Mint! _Mint_ of all things was Dextro and that was what gave it flavor! Sugar. Sugar was Dextro as well as penicillin...heck, there was a [ whole article ](http://darthempress.tumblr.com/post/21009439428/dextro-wont-kill-you-honey-still-proceed-with) written about it and Kerica could only follow about half of it. Several articles came out after that as a follow-up, a couple dealing with test results, and sure enough. She could have a Turian coffee and be just damn peachy, and a Turian could have a human coffee and give zero fucks. It wouldn’t affect them the same way, and it may not even taste the same, but hey; the point was it wasn’t _toxic_.

Nose-deep in her reading, Kerica had disassociated herself from the real world around her. So she barely suppressed a flinch when the door made it’s ‘jingle’ noise. There was no actual bell, but the turian who made this cafe had a love of humans, and made this cozy little place to make the new species to Citadel Space comfortable, fashioning after pictures of old school cafes on Earth. Nihlus had even made the color scheme similar to his plates and hide; those reddish-brown terracotta tones with white accents to go along with his colony markings. The pop of green that matched his striking eyes came in the form of synthetic plants scattered around, placed in the corners and hanging from the ceiling. To her amusement, and also to her shy surprise, the plants had come _after_ an offhand comment a few weeks after he’d been open, and she’d finally come by on shore leave.

It made Kerica feel a little guilty sometimes, watching Nihlus move around behind the counter as he took care of a new turian customer whom she’d never seen before. She was the reason Nihlus had even retired. A bullet through the skull during a botched mission together had ruined his career as a Specter, and it was all her fault. He had even _said_ that he _worked faster on his own_ and there she was, taking his attention away from the task at hand.

Saren had ambushed them, taking Nihlus down first because the brown-plated Turian had been friends and even _partners_ with Saren, once upon a time. Saren had betrayed them all, however. Anderson had been the first, sabotaging the mission that would’ve made Anderson the first Specter back in the day. Then he turned around and tried to start a second war with the humans. He really, really hated them and to this day, Nihlus couldn’t wrap his head around it.

It made her think about the name of the cafe as her jade green eyes, already glossed over again with thought, returned to her omni-tool and she sipped her tea. _Phantom_ . Nihlus was the Phantom, and this was cafe was his baby. All because it was _too hazardous_ to let him return to the field, even after he’d made a full recovery. Bastard Council. He’d heard all of her rants about it before, but while he could be a hardass, he took the fall graciously. _“Kill them with kindness”_ she had said as a joke that day, only for him to smile at her and say _“Exactly.”_

Unfortunately, he had stepped down and she took his place all in one foul swoop. First _official_ human Specter and she couldn’t even be excited as she hated the circumstances. Nihlus had made it better, but still.

Once again, Shepard had to tense her shoulders instead of bouncing three inches off her chair when there was a little ‘click-click-click’ of a tallon on the table. Man, today wasn’t turning out to be so good in terms of her being jumpy. Glancing up from the orange glow of her omni-tool, she blinked slowly as the Turian from the counter, a newcomer, had come up to her. He looked as disgruntled as a Turian could, his eyes drooping from exhaustion, a steaming cup of coffee in his palm. He hesitantly pulled his hand back, brow ridges coming together.

“Ah…” he cleared his throat and his mandibles twitched, “Sorry...but all the other seats are full.” He waited for her to glance around the cafe to confirm he wasn’t bullshiting her, before continuing when she met his eyes again. “I won’t disturb you again. I’d just like to sit down, if you don’t mind sharing space?”

Maybe he thought she didn’t like Turians or just tolerated them long enough for some good tea. Kerica smiled at him reassuringly, noting the low-hum of his sub-vocals sounded just as tired as he looked. “No, I don’t mind.” She scooted back to sit more straight in her chair and pulled her legs closer to herself so he would have more room. His second-larynx purred a _‘thank the Spirits’_ sort of tone while he sighed heavily in relief with his voice. “My thoughts were getting a bit...unpleasant, anyway. I appreciate the distraction.” She told him honestly as he pulled the chair across from her out and sat down heavily, to the point where she nearly expected the chair to snap in half, sending him sprawling onto the floor. This Turian was bulky, and she wasn’t _entirely_ sure if it was the armor or just him. Not to mention the coffee he had smelled highly of cinnamon. She didn’t care for cinnamon herself, but it would be a crying shame if he spilled it everywhere.

He reclined almost immediately, his leg slipping out as he slumped. It brushed against hers and she arched a brow as he snapped it back, straightening up as quickly as he relaxed, his lovely sky blue eyes wide with horror and mandibles flaring in shock. “I didn’t mean…”

Kerica held her hand up and cut him off, “As you were.” Confusion crossed his face next, mandibles twitching, but he slowly reclined again. Stiffer this time, keeping his legs and feet in check, but his shoulders finally dropped after he took his first sip of his coffee, his eyes drooping closed and his sub-vocals melted, too, going _‘oh that hits the spot’_. “You look like you had an all-nighter. Working a case?” she asked after noticing his C-sec insignia. She’d been so focused on his face that she had taken longer than normal to look at the rest of him. She liked the mix-match of blue and silver. From the grey-tan of his plates and hide, to the dark blue colony markings that brought out his eyes. It all paired wonderfully with the blue of his armor, and the rest of the silver armor bringing it all together.

Even dog-gone-tired as he was, he was a fairly handsome Turian. Also very expressive. Nihlus’ mandiples didn’t move nearly as much, and he kept his second-larynx in check out of pure habit rather than because he knew she could read them. It was entertaining.

“I…ah…yes. Yes I am.” He stuttered, clearly trying to keep his brain active to give the conversation his full attention. “Is it too late to ask your name? I’m Garrus. Garrus Vakarian.”

“Do you know Nihlus?” Kerica asked casually, leaning forward and putting her chin in her hand, omni-tool off.

“I...do?” He didn’t seem to follow, cocking his head just slightly. She watched his nose wiggle. Was he smelling her? She knew Turians had a good sense of smell. Suddenly that made her wonder if she smelled gross or not.

“Shepard.” She introduced, and watched his jaw nearly drop, his mandibles flaring wide a second time, though his eyes didn’t widen nearly as much as the first time. Turians had a strict thing about consent and touch, so that didn’t surprise her really that he’d been so appalled at his own carelessness. Honestly...her leg did still feel odd.

“Shep...you’re...I see.” He kept cutting himself off as his tired brain processed things. “Nihlus speaks highly of you.” His sub-vocals had a hint of impressed tones and curiosity.

Now it was Kerica’s turn to be surprised, “Wait...he does? Since when?”

Garrus smirked at her a little in that way only Turians could, pleased with himself to catch her off guard, even his harmonics rumbling in pride, knowing something she didn’t. He sipped his coffee before answering, “Even retired the man has some contacts. Besides, the case I’m on is personal to him.”

All traces of a smile left Kerica’s features and she went solemn, leaning back again, “Hmm. So you’re trying to find info on the one and only Turian rogue agent who looks mangled as all fuck?”

Garrus was now deadpan. Blinking at her slowly, quiet all around and the smug expression wiped away. “Personal to you, too, then. I see. A lot of things make a lot more sense now.”

“I’m sure they do.” Kerica agreed and made a glance towards Nihlus. He had his hands busy cleaning a cup, his eyes seeming to be watching what he was doing, but she knew better. He was watching them out of the corner of his eye, even if he couldn’t listen in from this distance. She looked back at Garrus. “Any luck, then?”

Garrus shook his head, “So much damn red tape...and my father keeps blocking me at every turn. I can’t get anything _done_.”

“I didn’t even know C-sec _had_ any information. I would’ve come by a long time ago.” Kerica leaned forward once more, but this time it wasn’t so casual. She laced her fingers together and put her chin on top of them, looking intense, her eyes focused on Garrus’ and his mandibles and nose twitched again. She had his attention. “I’m a Specter. Red tape means diddly squat when I’m looking for results.”

That made him slowly put his coffee on the table and he leaned forward as well, merging his space with her own, “I like that word. Results. I don’t want to say his name, but while I know the Council already has you on his tail, the information I’m after could help you catch him faster.”

Over at the counter, Nihlus went to clean another cup. He watched Kerica smile nice and slow, looking menacing and...what was it? Like the cat that ate the cream? Or was it canary? Hmm…maybe both? As it were, she and Garrus continued to talk in a hushed manner, huddled close. The tired looks were replaced with...oh these silly human idiums...bright eyes and...bushy...tails?

He owed Shepard some closure. If he helped her find it through the best C-sec officer he had tabs on, then he’d do it. After all, no one else had been there when he woke up in the hospital. No one else fought so hard for his sake. It didn’t matter to him if she was human. She had a passion and fire that matched Garrus’ and he knew they’d work well together to stop Saren. Nihlus was already over what happened to him; he’d rather move on, hence _Cafe Phantom_ . Yet at the same time he couldn’t sit back and let Saren potentially hold a coup on the Citadel without putting up a fight first. He may remember Saren before the...incident that got him all of those cybernetics, but Saren had _always_ hated humans. Now it was just tenfold.

He had a lot of faith the two of them could do what he could not.


	2. Out of the Ordinary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tali's turn to try the best cafe on the Presidium

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short...like super short, but it's cute!
> 
> Also yeah I resulted in Saren teaming with the Geth, cuz they are a big part of the game.

Saren and Benezia, working together. 

That was what Tali’s information from her Geth data cash recording had revealed. Garrus was pleased that they’d managed to find Tali before Fist’s croneys. The Council didn’t like it at all, but it was irrefutable and so they stripped Saren of his Specter status and made it official Council business, sending Shepard on the mission when she’d already been way ahead of them.

With Tali and Garrus on her heels, Kerica looked back at the two of them, “Who wants some coffee?”

Tali blinked at her slowly, the lavender orbs disappearing and reappearing behind the purple glass. “Couldn’t we have some coffee on the ship? We have places to go, Shepard.”

“Yes, yes we do. That’s why I’m asking if either of you want coffee?” Kerica smiled and caught her eyes with Garrus’, “Yes, no, maybe so?”

“Of course, Shepard.” Garrus agreed readily, a sudden perk in his step, “Let’s go.”

“But…” Tali was just so confused.

Kerica laughed softly under her breath as she pressed the button for the elevator that led back down to the Presidium. “You won’t regret it, Tali. I promise.”

* * *

It took a hot minute, but the three of them walked into  _ Phantom _ . Tali had never smelled anything so exquisite before. She watched as Shepard and Garrus even took appreciative deep breaths in through their noses. Just  _ what _ were they  _ doing _ here? They had to stop Saren and Benezia! If it wasn’t for the fact Quarians weren’t all that welcome, she’d run up to the Normandy. 

For now, she begrudgingly followed them to a particular table in the far back right corner that had a ‘reserved’ table tag on it. At first, Tali frowned behind her mask, but then startled as Shepard quickly and...rather chipper as she did so, grabbed a third chair. Plopping it right down as Garrus took a seat with his back to the wall and facing the rest of the cafe, Shepard patted the back of the seat and grinned at her.

“C’mon, sit!” with that, Kerica hummed, delighted, as she eased herself down and stretched out. Her leg bumped Garrus’, who stiffened at first, fringe flicking, and then immediately relaxed with a chuckle, bumping back. 

“Stop playing footsie.” A gruff tone came from behind Tali and she whipped around. The brown-plated Turian with white facial markings inclined his head at her; an apology. In a softer voice, he said, “Please, sit. The chair isn’t going to bite you. If it does, I’ll take it out back and shoot it myself.” 

Tali was very glad the tinted glass made it difficult for anyone to see her face besides her eyes, as she blushed when Garrus and Shepard chortled behind her, “I...uh...you’re right. Sorry.” Promptly and quickly, she sat down.

“We should’ve brought Wrex here before you sent him off to the ship.” Garrus quipped, highly amused, as he leaned back and grinned at Shepard.

Kerica shrugged, “Oh, he’ll have his chance. Besides, Tali seemed like she needed a pick-me-up.”

Being treated like a  _ person _ made Tali’s feelings go around in circles. This human, let alone an N7 Specter, was going way against the norm for how Quarians were treated. She wanted to be grateful. She was. It was just...so strange. “I’ve...been through a lot. Barely started my Pilgrimage and I’ve been shot at, lost the ship I left my Flotilla in, as well as some close comrades.”

“Mm...I’ve heard about the incident in Dr. Michel’s office, and Chora’s Den. Nice to know Fist isn’t around anymore.” The brown Turian arched a brow-ridge at Shepard who only shrugged in response. Garrus, instead, straightened and looked proud. “I’m Nihlus Kryik. Pleasure to make your acquaintance…”

“Tali’Zorah…” Tali then looked to Shepard, “...vas Normandy?”

“I’ve taken her on as part of my crew.” Kerica agreed with a firm nod.

“Tali’Zorah vas Normandy. It suits you. I’m certain you’ll do just fine as part of Shepard’s team.” Nihlus nodded, “So, I assume you two will take your usuals. I’ll bring you something I think you’ll enjoy for that ‘pick me up’...on the house.” With that, Nihlus turned and headed back to behind the counter.

What…? 

Tali couldn’t wrap her head around it.  _ ‘On the house?’ _

Kerica made a humming sound deep in her chest and looked at Garrus. He met her gaze and made his own little answering rumble, smirking with a twitch of a mandible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ssshhhh may or may not be quietly be debating putting Tali with Nihlus...she is with Garrus if you don't romance either of them so I mean... *coughTurianchocolatecough*


End file.
